Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

[Video] Update on the Bamenda-Mamfe-Ekok-Abakaliki-Enugu Highway

The benefits of the nearly completed Enugu-Bamenda Multinational Highway are already being felt by populations on both sides of the Cameroon-Nigeria border.

The 443 km long Bamenda–Enugu corridor comprises the Cameroonian Bamenda-Mamfe-Ekok road sections (203 km), the Nigerian road sections (240 km), the bridge over the Munaya River in Cameroon (100 m) and the border bridge over the Cross River (280 m).

Click here for additional details about the project.

[Video] Land Grab: The Herakles Debacle in Cameroon

A documentary by Franck Bieleu whose feature length documentary, Big Banana, was nominated for the jury's prize at the 2012 Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival.

"Environment groups are accusing a New York-based agricultural company, Herakles Farms, of going forward with plans for a 73,000-hectare palm-oil plantation and refinery in southwest Cameroon... in the face of significant community opposition." Inter Press Service.

 

"Given the terms of a 99-year agreement under which Herakles Farms is allowed to establish a plantation of about 70,000 hectares [in Ndian division], it’s not difficult to see why Cameroonian NGOs fear the worst for local people. The agreement does not clarify to what extent – if at all – Cameroonian labour laws will apply, it exempts Herakles Farms from paying any taxes for the first 10 years, and it enables Herakles to rent the land from as little as US $0.5 per hectare, increasing by 2 % per year, contributing almost nothing to the state budget...

Under the agreement, Herakles is even given the right to organize its own protection of the zone using a private police force with the power to “search, apprehend, detain, exclude and evict unauthorized persons”. Click here to read the rest of this article by Greenpeace.

[Video] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Speaks at 2012 Commonwealth Lecture

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks on Connecting Cultures at 2012 Commonwealth Lecture

 

"I knew the basic facts of Nigerian history when I first read Chinua Achebe’s novels “Things Fall Apart” and “Arrow of God,” but it was those novels that made me realize that while I may very well know the facts, I did not really know the truths. Bloodless words like ‘pacification’ and ‘amalgamation’ and ‘indirect rule’ were the facts, but the truths were in the human stories. A respected man being flogged publicly by agents of the colonial government. A priest, once resplendent in his pride and stubbornness, now reduced to sitting on a cold prison floor because he had dared to reject an offer from a British district officer. And in images such as these, I learned a great truth which the history books said nothing about: the loss of dignity."

(Full text of lecture available for download here)

[Video] Kah Walla's "Fiery Call to Arms" at the Women in the World Summit

Kah Walla, president of Cameroon's People's Party, talks about her call to action – women have to help elect other women to government.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 Click here for more on Kah Walla's declaration at the Women in the World Summit.

(Video) Breathtaking Aerial View of Cameroon

Dazzling aerial view of Cameroon from a camera-equipped hexacopter 

 

February 23 Protests: Rapid Intervention Unit & Anti Riot Police Brutalize Demonstrators

Presidential aspirant Kah Walla and others attacked by police during peaceful protest in Douala.

 
Update on presidential aspirant Kah Walla after Police attack

According to a reliable source who has spoken with here, "she is shaken up but okay." This is how she was attacked:

The march was in process and when police approached, protesters sat down on the ground in the street in a non-violent posture .

Police immediately proceeded to beat the crowd with batons and when Kah stood up to say it was not necessary since the protesters were peaceful, the police commissioner yelled out directions to have her brought to him saying he would "teach her a lesson."

 She was dragged out and made to stand on the median in the middle of the street. The police commissioner then asked the truck containing water to turn around and focus on her. With the high-powered hoses directed at her, she was hosed down brutally for minutes and when she managed to escape she was grabbed, beaten on the back of her legs and dragged to a police detention truck. She had difficulty seeing and breathing due to the chemicals in the water. When she finally gained composure she was released. Many protesters with her were savagely beaten all over their bodies including the head with batons.

 More images of police brutality on presidential aspirant Kah Walla available on The Chia Report.

(Video ) Mola Njoh Litumbe on the Southern Cameroons Issue

Mola Njoh Litumbe's interesting perspective on the union between the British Southern Cameroons and the French Cameroons in this interview with Equinoxe TV (Douala, Cameroon).

 

Bill Zimmerman: "Africa is at the cutting edge of mobile technology innovation"

Bill Zimmerman, founder of Limbe Labs, a Limbe-based startup incubator and outsourcing outfit, talks a about a new generation of IT entrepreneurs in Cameroon, the changing African ICT scene and cutting-edge mobile technology innovations from the continent. (Note: The intro is in Dutch but the actual interview in English)

(Video) La Republique Du Cameroun - The Birth of a Nation (January 1, 1960)

A brief report and rare archival footage on the independence of the French Cameroons (La Republique du Cameroun) on January 1, 1960 (including Ahamadou Ahidjo's historic speech announcing independence (in French). 
 

 

(Music) "Independance Cha Cha" - The African Independence Anthem

Composed in 1960 by Joseph Kabasele Tshamala (Grand Kalle), the father of Congolese music, Independance Cha cha, became the anthem of not only the nationalist movement in the Belgian Congo, but also the newly independent states of Africa. The song was was first played at the Hotel Plaza in Brussels on January 27 1960 during the round table talks that set the date for Congolose independence.

 Today we can opnly look back wistfully and that golden age of buoyant optimism and hope of a better future for Africa...

Indépendance cha cha tozui e
Oh! Kimpuanza cha cha tubakidi
Oh! Table Ronde cha cha ba gagné o
Oh! Dipanda cha cha tozui e

(Independence cha cha, we've won it
Oh! Independence cha cha, we've achieved it
Oh! The round table cha cha, we've pulled it off
Oh! Independence cha cha, we've won it)

Memory Lane Video (November 6, 1982): Ahidjo-Biya, the Final Goodbyes

In a rare video footage which I posted on youtube earlier this year, we watched Paul Biya being sworn in as president of Cameroon on November 6, 1982. In this new footage, we see rare images of Paul Biya entering Unity Palace for the first time as Head of State, and Ahmadou Ahidjo leaving the palace for good. The accompanying audio is however about Ahidjo's alleged attempt to return to power less than a year later.

Daily Show Interview: William Kamkwamba "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"

"Where was this Google all this time?"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
William Kamkwamba
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Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

In this fascinating talk, Nigerian Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

Exotic and Handmade Home Decor Items from Around the World

Equatorial Guinea - "Once Upon a Coup" Airs on PBS Today (Preview)

A failed coup attempt…a British mercenary in a notorious African prison…a dictator suspicious of Western powers…and beneath it all, a spectacular underwater oil reserve that the world’s major powers would love to get their hands on.

It may sound like the latest John LeCarré bestseller, but in fact it’s the real-life intrigue of Once upon a Coup, WIDE ANGLE’s penetrating look at the mysterious goings-on in Equatorial Guinea, a tiny West African nation newly rich with oil and infamous for corruption. The story begins in 2004, when a group of mercenaries, including a British ex-special forces officer named Simon Mann, is arrested in Zimbabwe.

Memory Lane Video (February 11, 1961): The British Cameroons Plebiscite

UPDATE: Click here to watch video. (Youtube video embed not working)
Video erroneously labeled as 20th May 1972 West Cameroon plebiscite...

CAMEROON: Independence plebiscite

Reuters - 15 February 1961: A West African country divided in two..... this is likely to be the result of a plebiscite held in the Cameroons, on Feb. 11 and 12. Final results have yet to be announced, but in Northern Cameroons there is already an unbeatable majority in favour of union with Nigeria, while in the Southern Cameroons, it is reported that a final majority in favour of union with the Cameroon Republic is already certain.

Memory Lane Video (Buea, May 17 1958): Dr. EML Endeley at the Governor's Lodge

Scenes from Buea, Southern Cameroons, as new House of Assembly set to open.

UPDATE: Click here to watch video on youtube (Video embed no longer working)

Description of video

 1.
 Inside Secretariat, Buea - "Berlin" nameplate on safe door
 
 2.
 Bismarck on Buea fountain. Shots 1 & 2 to emphasise remnants of German influence still remain (Cameroons was German colony until First World War). Shot 7 also.

25 Years Ago... Former First Lady Germaine Ahidjo on the 1984 Coup Attempt

In this final installment in our ongoing series on the April 6, 1984 coup attempt, we finally hear from former First Lady Germaine Ahidjo. In Part 1, she responds to long-standing claims that the April 1984 coup was the handiwork of her husband Ahmadou Ahidjo, Paul Biya's predecessor. And in Part 2 she talks about the life of the Ahidjo family immediately after the coup, of the Ahidjos being stripped of their Cameroonian nationality by the Biya regime, and the death and burial of the former president in Dakar, Senegal, in November 1989 (French).

See also: Repaid in his own Coins: Ahmadou Ahidjo and the Politics of Ostracism

Memory Lane Video (March 13, 1962): President Kennedy Welcomes Ahmadou Ahidjo

President Kennedy welcomes President Ahmadou Ahidjo of Cameroon at Washington National Airport - March 13, 1962.

Mr. President:
I want to welcome you to the United States and to this Capital on behalf of the American people. I think all of us, living as we do a great many thousand miles from your own country, having a different history, separated in time and space, are impressed by the efforts that you personally have made, and your people have made, to build a viable and strong economy and country. 
   

Memory Lane (Video): Foncha, Ahidjo & the Cameroons Unification

A brief report on the unification of the British and French Cameroons. What expectations did Southern Cameroons leaders have of unification? What promises did the leaders of the French Cameroons make with regards to unification? How did the erstwhile equal relationship between Premier Foncha and President Ahidjo become be a subaltern one? Documentary contains very rare archival video footage and audio clips from the 1960s and 1970s. (In French).

Memory Lane (November 1982): The Ahidjo-Biya Transition

Rare video footage and report (in French) on Ahmadou Ahidjo's resignation as President of Cameroon on November 4, 1982 and Paul Biya's swearing-in on November 6, 1982 - at least some of us had the opportunity to witness, in our lifetime a (peaceful) transfer of power in Cameroon...